King Lear, Part 1

1
King Lear, Part 1

• CNE/ENG 120
• 12/03/04

2
King Lear

• Author Shakespeare
• Culture English
• Time 1608 CE (early 17th century)
• Genre drama (tragedy)
• Names to know Lear, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia,
  Edmund, Kent, Gloucester, Cornwall

3
Themes

• Love, betrayal, revenge, loyalty, foolishness
• Problem of human suffering -
• Remember what Zeus said in the Odyssey?

4
Human Suffering

• In Odyssey 1.36 ff, Zeus says
• Ah how shameless - the way these mortals blame
  the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their
  miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their
  own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond
  their proper share.

5
The Greek Take on Suffering

• According to the Greeks, the role of suffering in
  human life is clear mathos pathei
• (learning new self-awareness knowledge
  through suffering)
• In King Lear, most of the characters suffer. They
  react to suffering in different ways
• Some harden their hearts
• Some indulge in violence
• Some try to alleviate others suffering

6
King Lear Suffering (the sadness of old age)

• Lear makes a big mistake - he gives up his basis
  for power, but still expects to be treated as
  powerful.
• He rages against his own pain until his sanity
  cracks.
• He dies without being able to profit from his
  learning through suffering.

7
Cast of Characters

• Lear, King of Britain
• His daughters
• Goneril - married to Duke of Albany
• her steward is Oswald.
• Regan - married to the Duke of Cornwall
• Cordelia - marries the king of France
• Earl of Kent - loyal retainer to Lear
• Fool

8
Cast of Characters

• Earl of Gloucester
• His sons
• Edgar
• Edmund
• Curan, gentleman of the household
• Old man, a tenant

9
Intra-Family Conflict

• These are the interwoven stories of two families,
  each caught up in a struggle between
  greed/cruelty and support/consolation.
• Only death seems to provide an escape from the
  rack of this tough world.

10
Parallel Plots

• Each family centers on an aging father
  (patriarch)
• Lear imperious tyrant
• Gloucester gullible
• Each sees his children through a distorted lens,
  turning against the child who truly loves him,
  unleashing in the other children greed, lust,
  ambition.

11
Act 1, Scene 1

• Shakespeare sets out the premise for the play
  (the crazy idea out of which all follows)
• King Lear, intending to divide his power and
  kingdom among his three daughters, demands they
  publicly profess their love for him.
• Cordelia refuses to put on that show.
• In revenge, Lear strips her of her dowry, divides
  the kingdom between the other two, then banishes
  the Earl of Kent, who dares to protest Lears
  rash and unfair actions toward Cordelia.

12
Resonances

• In the Agamemnon, you saw Clytemnestra turning
  against her husband Agamemnon for killing their
  daughter Iphigeneia. She expresses the common
  view that family members should be philoi (loved
  ones) who protect/promote their families, not
  ekhthroi (enemies) who hurt them. Do good to
  your philoi and harm to your ekhthroi was the
  archaic Greek code of ethics.

13
Complications

• The king of France marries Cordelia despite her
  lack of dowry.
• Lear tells Goneril and Regan that they and their
  husbands should divide his powers and revenues
  he will keep 100 knights and will live with them
  each by turns.

14
Act 1, Scene 2

• Ordinary jealousies, demands, and desires begin
  to be taken to extremes.
• Edmund plots to displace Edgar as Gloucesters
  heir.
• What does he tell his father about Edgar?
• Is it true?

15
Act 1, Scene 3

• Lear has gone to live with Goneril.
• Why does Goneril become so angry with her father?
• What does she tell her steward, Oswald, to tell
  Lear?

16
Act 1, Scene 4

• The Earl of Kent returns in disguise, offers his
  services to Lear, and is accepted.
• Goneril and Lear confront each other - what does
  Goneril demand, and how does Lear react?

17
Act 1, Scene 5

• Lear sets out for Regans with his Fool.
• The disguised Kent goes ahead with a letter for
  Regan.